The detection and correction of image defects (e.g., eye defects) is known in the art. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/282,955, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,599,577, discloses a method for digital image artifact correction. The disclosed method is concerned with the detection and correction of hybrid flash artifacts in an image including red eye defects and non-red eye defects, such as defect regions of the eye which may not be fully red, or may display other artifacts, for example, a complex pattern of portions that are yellow, golden or white or a combination thereof.
In general, however, conventional image defect correction schemes involve identifying a region to be corrected and altering the color level of that region to correct the eye defect.
However, in cases where the image is blurred, for example due to camera motion or more likely in flash images, images in which the focus point is not on the subject, such correction methods are not as effective. For example, eye defects in blurred images influence and are influenced by surrounding regions, for example skin, iris, and eyelashes and may not have sharp edges or clear appearances. Thus, the corrected eye defects in the image can be sharply defined within a blurred area.
Conventional methods are quite effective when performed on sharp images due to the fact that there is a clearly defined border between the corrected region and the remainder of the image. However, in blurred images, such methods result in images having sharp corrected regions, which contrast with the fadedness of the remainder of the image, thereby appearing unnatural.